2000
Sea Kayak Symposiums (t18)
by Chuck Holst, ISK President
A sea kayak symposium is an excellent opportunity to paddle in a different area, attend classroom seminars on kayaking, take on-water lessons, try out new kayaks, hear adventure stories, connect with sea kayakers from all over the world, and learn from each other. The 16th annual Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium in Grand Marais, Michigan, was no exception.
One of the most delightful people Linda and I met at this year’s symposium was Trys Morris, a British Canoe Union (BCU) Level Five Coach (instructor) who recently completed a kayak expedition from England to Greece via the canals and rivers of France. Not only is Trys one of the rare breed of female English sea kayakers and even rarer breed of female English BCU coaches, but she is from Chingford, the same small town in England that Linda is from.
For Trys, the symposium was an education in Greenland paddles and paddling techniques. As she later explained, Greenland paddles are not taken seriously in the BCU, so when she saw that kayakers using Greenland paddles were able to keep up with the rest of the group she was leading, her curiosity was aroused. When Linda heard that, she promptly loaned Trys her own Greenland paddle to try. I coached Trys in how to use it, and then persuaded her to try rolling with it. Though Trys had doubts about being able to roll with such a narrow paddle (Linda’s is only 2-3/4 inches wide) and asked me to spot her in case she failed, she actually rolled very strongly with it, much to her surprise. After that, it wasn’t long before she was talking about making one for herself. Of course, we then referred her to my article on making Greenland paddles, which is available on the ISK Web site — an article that made its first appearance here in HUT!
New Romany Kayak
Good news from the symposium for the larger paddler: The popular Romany Explorer sea kayak is now available in a high volume version, making it possible for kayakers to own a Romany who were unable to fit into the original version. Nigel Dennis says the hull is the same, but the deck, coaming, and thigh supports have been raised to create more leg room.
Fourth of July Trip
Things didn’t go quite as planned on the ISK Apostle Islands trip Fourth of July weekend. First, the best campsites we were able to get at Presque Isle were a 15-minute walk apart, and then rain, hail, and 50-60 mph winds hit Saturday evening shortly after we set up camp, severely curtailing our group dinner and blowing down Jeff Schmieg’s tent with him in it. It was a good test of my new lightweight tarp from Cooke Custom Sewing, which withstood the blast well except for having a hole punched through the center by the narrow end of the pole. It was also a dramatic lesson in how quickly the lake can turn dangerous.
The rest of the weekend, however, was relatively peaceful. Sunday was our day for hiking and drying out, Monday was a sparkling day for a trip to the lighthouses on Michigan Island, and Tuesday was a beautiful day for our paddle back to Bayfield.
